Friday has a spicy NBA slate with all sorts of intriguing action. Per the usual, the fun will be getting underway at 7:00 p.m. ET on DraftKings and FanDuel. There are several options in the player pool worth analyzing to find the top NBA DFS building blocks and NBA DFS picks. Let’s dig into the NBA DFS picks and core plays like Trae Young, Anthony Davis, LeBron James and Domantas Sabonis.
NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today: Friday, Nov. 1
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NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks
Trae Young: Hawks vs. Kings
NBA DFS Projections
DraftKings: 55.25 | FanDuel: 52.15
NBA DFS Ownership Projections
DraftKings: 10.9% | FanDuel: 8.9%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $10,200 | FanDuel: $10,000
Atlanta is without Dyson Daniels, De’Andre Hunter and Vit Krejci, who have all seen action this season. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kobe Bufkin have not played yet and both are likely out until mid-December.
That means ample minutes and opportunities are available for Trae Young and the other offensively minded Hawks.
Through five games, Young is leading the league with 11.6 assists per appearance, and his 28.2-point average is back to his scoring level prior to Dejounte Murray joining Atlanta. Young does not expend a lot of energy on the defensive side of things, so he is able to be effective for the majority of his 38 minutes per game, putting up gaudy offensive numbers.
Atlanta is currently playing at the third-fastest pace in the league and has a bottom-3 defensive efficiency rating. Sacramento is never afraid to run, which makes the 237.0 projected game total appealing. Jalen Johnson has been a fantasy tease over the last few seasons, but there is no mistaking his ability to rack up the DFS goodness in a hurry. Last year he averaged a personal-best 12.5 field goal attempts per game, and he is already up to 15.0 with Hunter and Bogdanovic out of the picture. He does a nice job with blocks and steals while also racking up plenty of rebounds in good matchups. That could be a little tougher tonight against the Rebound King Domantas Sabonis, but the 23-year-old is averaging 11.0 per game, with 12 and 17 in his last two.
Rookie Zaccharie Risacher came off the bench in his first two games, but the top overall selection of the 2024 NBA Draft has started each of the last three games. The Stokastic projections have him for 33.2 minutes, which is a little lofty, though the trend is favorable with 19, 18.5, 26.9, 25.5 and 34.8 minutes in his five starts. The 19-year-old Frenchman is still lacking from an NBA perspective, but this is already factored into his salary.
Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu are splitting the center minutes, with the former starting and the latter getting an extra 3 to 4 minutes per game. They are neutral options but far from priorities with the expansive player pool. David Roddy is a viable discount dandy off the bench, though it is likely that better options will be revealed closer to lock.
Sabonis is averaging a career-high 24.3 points per game after hovering just over 19 points during the preceding four seasons. The current and two-time NBA rebounding champion is at 11 per game, which is down from 13.7 and 12.3 over the last two seasons but still outstanding. His assists should tick up, along with the rebounds, and his scoring is likely to normalize around 20 points per game. He may not come close to his 26 triple-doubles of last season, but he could replicate the 77 double-doubles.
DeMar DeRozan has slotted in nicely with his new team, and he is scoring 23 points per game, with four rebounds, four assists and 2.3 “stocks” per game. This figures are right in line with his career averages, which is pretty impressive for the 35-year-old, who is in his 16th season.
De’Aaron Fox rounds out the big three, leading the team with 7.5 assists and trailing his counterparts by a tick with 21.5 points per game. Last season Fox led the league with 2.0 steals per game, and he is already at 1.5 and has plenty of time to defend his title.
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Anthony Davis: Lakers at Raptors
NBA DFS Projections
DraftKings: 60.97 | FanDuel: 62.07
NBA DFS Ownership Projections
DraftKings: 38.2% | FanDuel: 55.2%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $10,600 | FanDuel: $11,000
It has only been five games, but Anthony Davis is averaging 30.6 points per game, which is the most in his career and ranks third among his peers over the first dozen days of the season. Jakob Poeltl and the shorthanded Raptors should be no match for Davis as the Lakers look to end their two-game slide and turn things around on the third stop of the current road trip.
Los Angeles does not play again until Monday when the team takes on the Pistons in Detroit. That means there should be no rest concerns for LeBron James as he continues to chug along in his 22nd season. He is two months shy of his 40th birthday yet still churning out 21.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game. While he is not going to be chalky by any stretch, he is currently projected to be on 15% of all tournament lineups for both DraftKings and FanDuel.
Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura are neutral options across the various DFS sites. Since this is an early game, there is no need to go any deeper in the analysis of the bench.
RJ Barrett suddenly is the last man standing with Immanuel Quickley all but assured of missing a fifth consecutive game, Scottie Barnes out for the next three weeks with an orbital fracture, and Bruce Brown Jr. and Kelly Olynyk yet to make their debut this season. Barrett missed the first few games himself but has ramped up over the last two with 28.7 and 33.3 minutes, dropping 51 points across his two appearances.
Gradey Dick was 11 of 17 (65%) from the field in the last game for a career-high 30 points, setting a new personal best only four days after dropping 25 points in Minnesota. Consider 15 field goal attempts to be a realistic projection, with another couple in readily attainable upside. He will need to put the biscuit in the basket, but the volume should be there for this thinned-out rotation.
The salaries have gone up for Jonathan Mogbo, Davion Mitchell and Ochai Agbaji, so unless there is new information about increased or revised roles, they are tertiary differentiation plays at best.
Today’s Top Sports Betting Pick
Nikola Vucevic is someone to consider in the DFS world, but we can also pick against him in the sports wagering markets.
Tonight the under on his 35.5 points + rebounds + assists (PRA) prop is worthy of our attention. By using Portfolio EV to do the heavy lifting when researching favorable bets, we can quickly spot inefficient lines like this one, and having accounts at multiple sportsbooks allows us to pivot to the best number quickly.
This pits the books against each other, which shows that the Hard Rock and BetMGM odds have jumped way ahead of all the other major operators. Odds are constantly shifting and moving, so when you find a good number, pounce on it. That is the beauty and power of Portfolio EV to find the best odds at any point in the day.
Stokastic’s Advanced NBA Statistical Projections have Vucevic projected for 33.9 minutes and 18.52 points, 11.43 rebounds and 3.64 assists for 33.59 PRA. That is in line with the threshold, though a tick below the 34 PRA needed for a loss. Through five games, Vucevic is averaging 20.2 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists for 34.6 PRA.
Brooklyn plays at a bottom-10 pace, though the overall defense has been inconsistent thus far. The goal is that the game slogs enough, that there are fewer rebounding opportunities as Vucevic battles with Nic Claxton and Ben Simmons, with the duo also making him work for his offense in the paint.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today
Get all the latest news and updates for NBA DFS picks today on the Stokastic NBA Live Before Lock Show at 5:00 p.m. ET on YouTube, breaking down all of the key elements for today’s slate.
